A wide range of off-highway, work vehicles have been developed for various purposes. In smaller work vehicles, seats and other operator supports may be sufficient, and these may be mounted on various forms of springs and other suspension components. However, in larger or more complex works vehicles, such as certain agricultural tractors and construction equipment, a partially or fully enclosed cab is more desirable, providing one or more operators with a comfortable location from which the vehicle may be operated. Such cabs, sometimes referred to as “operator environments” also provide a central location to which controls and operator interfaces may be fed, and from which most or all of the vehicle functions may be easily controlled.
In most instances, the cab of a work vehicle is formed by a cab frame that includes a plurality of structural members coupled to one another to create a relatively stiff structural frame. The cab frame, in turn, is typically suspended relative to a fixed component of the work vehicle, such as the vehicle's chassis, via a suspension system. The suspension system is generally designed to allow movement of the cab frame relative to the chassis or other fixed component above which it is suspended. For instance, the cab frame may be allowed to rotate about two or more axes (e.g., pitch rotation and roll rotation) and may be allowed to translate linearly in three directions (e.g., forward-to-aft movement, side-to-side movement and vertical movement).
Given such freedom of the cab frame to rotate/translate, it is often desirable to monitor the position of the cab frame relative to the fixed component above which it is suspended. However, the development of a sensor or sensing device that is capable of monitoring the position of the cab frame while accommodating the various degrees of freedom that the frame is allowed to move relative to the fixed component has proven difficult.
Accordingly, a suspension system for a work vehicle and a related sensor assembly for monitoring the position of a cab frame relative to a fixed component of the work vehicle that is configured to accommodate movement of the cab frame in multiple directions would be welcomed in the technology.